Mental health chatbot startup, X2AI, uses a text-based chatbot to respond to people experiencing depression, addiction, and thoughts of suicide via customized text conversations. More than 4 million people have paid access to the service, which has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression by 13-18%. Founder Michiel Rauws talks about how machine learning helped develop the bot (called Tess) and what’s on tap next for his company.
Filmed at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA, January 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
Jane Metcalfe founded Wired Magazine 25 years ago to talk about the tech revolution. Today, her new publication, NEO.LIFE is reporting from the the front lines of the “Neobiological Revolution.” From the most astounding developments in neuroscience, genome sequencing, and longevity to biohacking, synthetic biology, fertility, and human performance, NEO.LIFE covers the bleeding edge of health innovation. From that vantage point, we got Jane to weigh in on all the big questions…like how is today’s health tech scene reminiscent of the burgeoning tech scene of the 90’s? And, of course, why the f%$! are there still fax machines in hospitals?!
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
According to healthcare leader Toby Cosgrove, THIS is “the year of telehealth.” Although Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic would rather use the phrase ‘virtual care’ to describe the space, he’s pretty much on board with the idea that more consumers than ever will jump onto the virtual care bandwagon this year. How will Teladoc’s partnership with CVS play a role? Any other acquisitions on the horizon? Gorevic gets real about what’s impacting utilization rates and whether or not he’s worried about Teladoc competing with Apple, Google, and Amazon. (Hint: He’s not.)
Filmed at JP Morgan Healthcare 2019 in San Francisco, January 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
One of the fastest growing chronic condition management companies in healthcare, Livongo just made some big new hires and minted a new category in health tech called “Applied Health Signals.” What’s this? Well, if your new health solution ties together devices, data science, coaching, and clinical management, YOU might be an Applied Health Signals company. CEO Glen Tullman walks us through the new concept, shares his insight on the good & bad of consumer tech companies heading into health… then explains the strategery behind changes to the company’s C-suite and confronts the rumors I’ve been hearing about an IPO.
Filmed at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA, January 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
Google’s Verily has a $1Billion dollar investment fund and a nearly limitless talent pool of data scientists and engineers at the ready. So, how are they planning to invest in a better future for health?
Luba Greenwood, Strategic Business Development & Corporate Ventures
for Verily told me how the tech giant is thinking about the big data
opportunity in healthcare – and, more importantly, what they see as their role
in helping scale it in unprecedented ways.
So, where should other health tech investors place their bets, then?
Luba’s previous successes investing in digital health and health technology
while at Roche (FlatIron, MySugr, etc.) give her a unique perspective on the
‘state-of-play’ in healthcare investment…but has the game changed now that she’s
in another league at Verily? Listen in to find out.
Filmed at the Together.Health Spring Summit at HIMSS 2019 in Orlando,
Florida, February 2019.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
Health coaches are playing an ever-more important role in healthcare,
but there’s no one single authority when it comes to finding one — or vetting
them for that matter — until now.
Marina Borukhovich, CEO of startup YourCoach, talks about how she hopes to disrupt health coaching after she learned the value of having a ‘squad’ of experts help her through her breast cancer journey.
In fact, ‘Squads’ are the value-add that YourCoach is hoping will set
them apart. The app’s signature feature is that it lets you build-your-own team
of experts who can work together to tackle any aspect of health and wellness.
“We’re connecting coaches from around the world
who are going to lead the client holistically,” explains Marina. “So, it could be
diabetes support, it could be pull[ing] somebody in who does meditation, they
could bring in a business coach. It just really depends on the person…and what you
need as a person.”
“We’re building ‘Team YOU.”
Joining in on the fun in this interview is Eugene Borukhovich, who some
of you will recognize as the face of Bayer’s G4A program.
Eugene serves as an advisor to YourCoach and is also Marina’s husband —
possibly making them the “Beyonce & Jay-Z” power couple of
digital health. Is this a blessing or a curse? Apparently, there are 3am pitch
practices that sound like the solid foundation of any marriage.
Listen in to meet them both.
Filmed at JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, January 2019.
At HIMSS19, the year-old ‘Digital Health Collaborative’ announced its relaunch as ‘Together.Health.’ More than just a feel-good name, the new moniker is indicative of how the organization is literally trying to help the health innovation world ‘get its #%&! together.’
“We’re building a hub-and-spoke model,” says Stephen Konya of the US Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).
He and Nick Dougherty of MassChallenge Health Tech are founding co-chairs for Together.Health and the pair have managed to build a roster of more than 40 different partners – including almost every digital health accelerator and incubator in the country. Add into the mix some of the biggest health innovation investors in the biz, the usual healthcare incumbents, and a number of different government organizations and economic development groups with local, regional, and federal reach and one begins to clearly see how Together.Health is filling a void for ‘spokes’ that were definitely missing the connecting power of a ‘hub.’
But, what’s the real value of all this together-ness? According to Konya and Dougherty, faster uptake for innovation in healthcare.
For example, the organization’s first project is the development of a standard Business Associates Agreement (BAA) for startups and health systems to use to streamline the onerous paperwork process required before piloting or deploying new solutions. This is a process that currently takes 9-12 months and varies by health system. Together.Health thinks they can shorten that timeframe to 2-3 months just by getting the right people into the room and agreeing to keep 80% of the questions in the assessment in a standard format. The idea is meant to help prevent startups from ‘running out of runway’ (and their health system champions from simply ‘running away’ in frustration), while everyone waits for the necessary paperwork to make its way through Legal.
The pragmatism doesn’t stop there. Listen in to my interview with Stephen Konya to hear about the two other challenges Together.Health is taking on this year: putting together a common curriculum for health accelerator programs and mapping the US Health Innovation Ecosystem.
Want to get a jump on learning what’s happening in some of those health innovation pockets in the US? I had the opportunity to interview 10 ecosystem leaders at the Together.Health Spring Summit at HIMSS and the variety of conversations (and concerns) they share is pretty remarkable.
You can check out the whole Together.Health playlist here, or wait for a few of my favs (and their dishy gossip!) to make an appearance here on THCB over the next week.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
What’s happening in health tech in Detroit? Paul Riser from the Tech Town accelerator says med device innovation and digital health applications are the area’s ‘sweet spots’ thanks to the area’s talent pool of auto industry engineers and R&D experts. Another unique opportunity for healthcare innovation that capitalizes on the Motor City’s proximity to Ontario? Easy access to emerging cannabis & CBD startups taking advantage of Canada’s legalization laws. Listen in to find out more…
Filmed at the Together.Health Spring Summit at HIMSS 2019 in Orlando, Florida, February 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
In the Pacific Northwest, “accelerator-slash-think tank” Cambia Grove is quickly expanding as the region’s go-to healthcare innovation hub. Fully funded by Cambia Health Solutions, the organization is functioning as a neutral party to bring startups and healthcare system incumbents together to identify innovation priorities. What else is happening in health tech in Seattle, especially with a few of those famous big consumer tech companies headquartered up there? Tune in to find out!
Filmed at the Together.Health Spring Summit at HIMSS 2019 in Orlando, Florida, February 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
Medical Alley has been bringing together Minnesota’s biggest healthcare players for 35 years, leading collaborative conversations that include the largest health insurance company in the US, United Healthcare, and leading care innovators like Mayo Clinic and Medtronic. So what’s the word on the street…er, alley? Shaye Mandle, President & CEO of Medical Alley, dishes on the neighborhood gossip: the challenge of defining the cost of care delivery, who’s leading the conversation on innovation, and which neighbors are missed at this Minnesota party (looking at you Target and Best Buy — come on over!)
Filmed at the Together.Health Spring Summit at HIMSS 2019 in Orlando, Florida, February 2019.
Jessica DaMassa is the host of the WTF Health show & stars in Health in 2 Point 00 with Matthew Holt.
Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health.
